An Unknown Love Letter
by Sakura Moon
Summary: After arguing with Ryou, Ichigo stormed into his room only to find a poem about herself. With this new information, Ichigo decides to take things into her own hands...unbetaed.
1. The Poem

_**An Unknown Love Letter**_

**Disclaimer:** Once again I do not own the anime or manga version of Mew Mew.

**Sakura M.:** I want to thanks Angelic Ichigo for giving the plot of this story! Though I kind of tweak it. .

Chapter 1

"Shirogane! I demand a raise!" A voice said.

That voice belongs to no other than Ichigo, leader of Tokyo Mew Mew. Not that anyone knows except those who worked in Café Mew Mew and the aliens. She was only a petite teenager with red hair and brown eyes.

"What for?" The young man replied.

His name is Ryou. He is the creator of the Mew Mew project. His first subject was himself, however it turned out that the Red Animal DNA did not completely fused with his DNA, thus resulting in allowing Ryou to change into his wildcat form only for a couple of minutes.

"Because of all the work I do around here! None of the other girls worked as hard as I am!" Ichigo yelled at him.

"Do you ever noticed a pattern?" Ryou asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ichigo shook her head. "What pattern?"

"Every time you asked me to give you a raise, and every time my answer has remain the same." Ryou smirked.

"Grrr…" Ichigo lets out some frustration. "You're unbelievable! What's wrong with me asking for a raise? I never volunteer to work in this place!"

"There you go. Since you never applied for the job, therefore no raise." Ryou said as he pushed Ichigo out of his room.

"I'm not done yet mister!" Ichigo started to ramble, only to have a door shut on her face. "Ooohhh…that jerk!"

Heading downstairs to where the rest of the team was, Ichigo glared at the customers.

"Ichigo? Is everything okay?" Lettuce said softly, not wanting to add any more fuel to her friend's hot temper.

"Oh everything is going peachy thank you very much." Ichigo snapped. Quickly seeing the hurt look plastered itself over Lettuce's face, she said to her softly. "I'm sorry for snapping at you Lettuce. It's just that for once, I want my wage to be the same as my hard work. It's not fair that out of all of the people here, I'm doing most of the chores around." Cutting off Lettuce's reply to that. "I know you do some work around here, but…you understand don't you?"

Lettuce nodded. "I understand. I'm clumsier than you are. So what are you going to do?"

"Right after the store close, I am going up to his room again and demand that I should get a raise or I'll leave the team!" Ichigo said, hitting her fist to her palm.

Overhearing this, Mint couldn't help but said. "Are you crazy or something? You can't leave the team. What ever happen to your 'Mew Mew' team spirit? If I recall, when Zakuro tried to leave the team, you insisted that she should stayed because we're a team."

Ichigo rolled her eyes. "I'm not exactly going to do it. I'm bluffing so that Shirogane has to take me seriously when I said that I want a raise."

"Like that's going to work." Mint said calmly as she stirred her tea around. "Why are you so insistent in getting a raise? You don't have to ask every single day you know."

Pudding barged in. "Maybe it's because onee-chan has the hots for Shirogane." Rolling around the tomato face Ichigo.

"I. DO. NOT. HAVE. THE. HOTS. FOR. HIM." Ichigo grinded her teeth.

Pudding stuck out her tongue. "That's what you think."

"Come back here you little monkey!" Enraged, Ichigo chased Pudding around the café as the other girls looked on.

Meanwhile in his room, Ryou looked at his work. Satisfied, he put it on his desk and headed down to the lab to work.

It was time for the cafe to close down. The other girls had left, after leaving Ichigo to clean all the mess. Keiichiro offered to help Ichigo, but she insisted to do the work since Keiichiro have to do something right after the café closed. When Ichigo finally finished all the cleaning, she started to head upstairs; ready to take her plan into action. Unknown to her, Ryou was still in the lab trying to figure out a problem that he could not solve.

Finding that the door was unlocked, Ichigo barged in ready to give Ryou a hell of a lecture of why she should get a raise along with her bluff. "Shirogane?" She said, after realizing that the young blond was not in his room. "Ryou?" She said once again, only softly.

"I guess he's not here. But then where could he possibly be?" Ichigo said to herself. Wandering around Ryou's room, she could not help but notice a piece of paper lying on the table. "He won't be mad if I take a little peek." She said to herself. _'Maybe it's a love letter to someone._' Gleeing, she took a look.

_**Her eyes are like chocolates,**_

_**--seductive and sweet.**_

_**Her hair is made out of strawberries,**_

_**--for they have not only given her their scent, but their color as well.**_

Ichigo grinned. "Looks like someone got a thing for a girl." She continued on with the poem.

_**Strawberries and chocolates,**_

_**The most favorite desert.**_

_**Like many people, it is too, my number one desert.**_

_**Yet, it is out of my reach…**_

_**She does not know how much I craved for her**_

_**How much I restrain myself**_

_**How much I torture myself for denying this favorite desert**_

_**For another has claimed her for the taking**_

_**I only want her to be happy**_

_**I'm willing to destroy everything I got—**_

_**--just to see her smile**_

_**I'm brave enough to do this, but really…**_

…_**I am nothing but a coward.**_

_**A coward who wrote this poem instead of saying this to her,**_

_**Maybe someday I will have to courage to say or give this to her**_

_**But for now, this will do.**_

_**Someday, I wish I could get my favorite desert…**_

**_-Shirogane Ryou_**

Dazed, Ichigo unconsciously placed this insider her pocket. She did not know how long she stood in Ryou's room, but once a thought entered her mind that Ryou might be coming back to his room anytime soon left her in a panic. She flew downstairs and out the door. On her way room, she nearly bumped into Keiichiro.

"Keiichiro! What are you doing here?' Ichigo cried out.

"I'm on my way to the café. I'm done with my appointment. How about I walk you home? Since it looks like that you're heading there." Keiichiro offered.

"I don't want to be a bother…" Ichigo trailed off.

Keiichiro shook his head. "You're not. Come on. Let's hurry before it gets dark."

They started to walk. Moments passed by before Ichigo gathered enough courage to ask Keiichiro. "Keiichiro? Do you think that there's someone in Shirogane's life?"

"What are you talking about?" Keiichiro said, confused by her question.

Ichigo pulled out the poem that she had tucked and showed it to him. She watched as his expression changed from the look of shock into realization and then into a knowing look.

"I guess you're right about that. Now here's my question to you." Keiichiro said after giving the poem back to Ichigo. "Do you know who he's referring to?"

Ichigo bit her lip. _'Whom could Shirogane be referring to? Lettuce? No. It couldn't be. The poem states that the girl must have red hair and brown eyes. Who else do I know that has red hair and brown eyes?'_ Giving up, she said to Keiichiro, "I don't know who that person might be."

Keiichiro smirked. He pulled Ichigo to face the window next to them. Looking at her reflection, for the first time she noticed that she fits the description. At that point, realization decided to slap her in the head.

Glancing back at Keiichiro, whose grin widens. "No way. He can't be referring to me!"

"Well who else can it be? I don't think Ryou knows any girls with red hair and brown eyes. Neither do I except for you." Keiichiro stated calmly, though enjoying the different shades of red that started to appear.

"But...but I really like Aoyama-kun." Ichigo said, though still blushing at the thought that she was the girl that Ryou referred to in a poem meant for her.

They continued on walking, suddenly Keiichiro said. "Do you? Do you only like Aoyama? Does your feelings for Aoyama blinded the feelings that you might have for Ryou? Think about that."

Ichigo stayed silent. She never thought about considering the feelings that appeared whenever Ryou was being kind to her. A few more paces and they were at her house.

"Keiichiro. Thank you for walking me home." Ichigo grinned at him.

Keiichiro grinned back. He waved to her. "Don't forget what I said about your crush for Aoyama might be blinding the feelings you might have for Ryou. See you tomorrow!"

Ichigo waved back and started to head inside. _'Don't worry Keiichiro. I will.'_

-------------------------------------------------------

_**Sakura Moon:**_

_**That's the first chapter of "An Unknown Love Letter".**_

_**Now if you're thinking, "That's not a love letter. So why is the story called 'An Unknown Love Letter' when it should be called 'An Unknown Love Poem'?**_

_**Never fear! You will see as the story progress. **_

_**Once again, I would like to thank Angelic Ichigo for providing the base or foundation of this story. As mentioned before, I tweaked it, but her idea is still there in the story.**_

_**So review! If it's rude such as "Your story sucks" or "Why bother to write?" or anything that you and I both know that is rude, don't bother because not only does it waste my time reading it, but also yours since you're the one who is typing it. So do both of us a favor and don't review if you don't have anything nice or critical to say. Other than that, review and give out your opinion/suggestions/mistakes about this chapter/story!**_

_**Sakura Moon signing out.**_


	2. What could this mean?

**_An Unknown Love Letter_**

Chapter 2

Laying on her bed in her pajamas, Ichigo could not helped but pondered about the meaning behind the poem. _'Does that mean that he actually likes me? But then…why is he always mean to me?'_

_ But doesn't he always singled you out? _The miniture Ichigo said to the large one.

'_That's true. But he was always such a jerk to me!'_

_ Well ever heard of a thing how people are mean to those who they like? _

Knowing that she had won, Mini Ichigo yelled out in triumphed. Ichigo stayed silent. Nighttime passed by and soon it was time for her to go to school. On her way to school, Ichigo could not help but reflect the emotions she had felt whenever Ryou was in his kind mood. She recalled every detail, every butterfly that fluttered. She realized that her crush for Masaya had really indeed blinded her feelings for Ryou. Now knowing that Ryou felt the same way, if not stronger.

"What am I going to do?" Ichigo cried out during break.

"Is there anything that's bothering you Momomiya-san?" Masaya said to her.

"Eek!" Ichigo cried out in shock. After calming herself down, she said to him. "What makes you think that there's anything that's bothering me?"

"It seems that your mind is anywhere but here." Masaya replied, sitting down beside her.

"No..not really. I was just thinking about some things." Ichigo mumbled, blushing feveriously due to the body heat that was emitted from Masaya.

"Well you the know the best way to sort some things out is to place them in a category. It's easier that way because not only does it helps you figure out what you need, but it helps you become a better person that way." Masaya said. Standing up he said to her, "I better go. I have kendo practice next. Bye Momomiya-san."

"Bye and thank you for your advice…Aoyama-kun." Ichigo said softly.

"_Does your feelings for Aoyama blinded the feelings that you might have for Ryou? Think about that."_ Keiichiro's voice reminded Ichigo in her head.

'_Is my feelings for Aoyama-kun really close my eyes to the feelings that I might have for Shirogane? If that's true, then what does this mean? Do I really like Shirogane in that way?'_ Ichigo shook her head at that comment, yet her heart pounded whenever the name 'Shirogane' or 'Ryou' comes up. _'I better take Aoyama-kun's advice then.'_

Grabbing a notebook from her backpack, Ichigo made a list. After making the pros list, she noticed that both Ryou and Masaya has the same type of pros. _'Maybe the cons list will break the tie.'_ Ichigo thought. She wrote the list down from her heart.

Cons for Shirogane: Most of the time, he's a jerk. He won't give me a raise. I hate for him making me feel like this.

Cons for Aoyama-kun: I can't think of any…besides the fact that he could get any girl he wants.

Looking at the last con for Shirogane, Ichigo was confused as to why she wrote that on the paper. "I hate him for making me feel like this…" Ichigo repeated to herself. "I hate him for making me feel like this…" She said again. "Is this coming from my heart? What I have for Aoyama-kun is just a schoolgirl's crush?"

The schoolbell's rang. "Better get to class. I'll ask the girls at the café for some help." Ichigo said as she rushed toward class.

Back at the café, Ryou Shirogane was seen looking all over his room. "Where is it?" He muttered. "I know I left it on the table."

"Is there anything wrong Ryou?" Keiichiro's voice said as he stood at the doorway.

"Yeah. Have you seen a piece of paper?" Ryou said underneath his desk.

"What kind of paper?" Keiichiro raised an eyebrow to this question, though secretly he knew what kind of paper Ryou was talking about.

"It's a piece of paper with words on it." Ryou answered, making his reply seemed more vague than he wanted Keiichiro to know.

"Well if you aren't being specific about it, then you're on your own. Good luck Ryou. I'll be in the kitchen preparing for today's special." Keiichiro said as left the doorway.

'_Where could it be? I hope it's not in the wrong hands…'_ Ryou thought worriedly.

* * *

**_Sakura Moon:_**

**_Ok, this chapter sucks. But I already knew from the start that it's going to be short. Maybe in the future I will rewrite this chapter. Also, I'm pretty sure that this story will end around either chapter 5 or chapter 6._**

**_I will also makea Yahoo Group featuring the stories that I'm planning to write and possibly making some outlines to do while I still have free time. I'll put it in my homepage once it's done. So check back around either this week or next week. It will probably be simple unless there's some people who would like to decorate it._**

**_Sakura Moon signing out._**


	3. Chapter 3

**_An Unknown Love Letter_**

Chapter 3

"Wow. You're early for the first time." Mint said sipping the today's tea as she watched Ichigo came in, out of breath.

"And what does that mean Miss. I-never-do-any-of-the-work-here-besides-drinking?" Ichigo retorted.

"No need to get feisty like a cat Ichigo." Mint said calmly.

"Then why don't you explain why I always turn into a kitten whenever someone kiss me huh?" Ichigo snapped. The realization that she had gotten during her time in school had left her in a bad mood.

Lettuce and Purin quickly ran over them. "Both of you, please stop this!" Lettuce cried out.

"Why are onee-chans fighting? Aren't we all suppose to be working together?" Pudding asked, not understanding what caused the argument to start in the first place.

The two teenagers stopped arguing. It was then that Zakuro decided to speak out after hearing Pudding's proclamation. "What caused you to be moody today Ichigo?" She said, quietly.

"Well you see…" Ichigo trailed off; a sudden thought occurred to her. _'I can't tell the girls about this! Last time I checked, Lettuce has a crush on Ryou and if she founds out that Ryou has a thing for me, she'll be devasted. I don't want to hurt her, but what can I do? I mean now that I know that I like Ryou…gah, this is hurting my brain.'_ Looking at her impatient friends, she thought _'Though I better come up with a scenario similar to this or Mint is soo going to have my head on a silver platter.'_

"…one of my friends told me that just today, she realized that she has feelings for her employee. But her boss, who is a female, has a crush on a co-worker that my friend is crushing on. The good news is that the employee likes my friend, but my friend just happens to be really good friends with her boss." Ichigo said, praying that the girls would believe this and not link it with the actual truth.

"So you're saying that your friend's co-worker likes your friend and so does her boss, but your friend doesn't want to hurt the boss's feelings. Am I correct?" Mint said.

"Yup! And now she wants me to give her an advice. Which I don't know what to say." Ichigo said, after the 'yup' she pumped her fist into the air; but started to lower her voice once she started her next comment.

"She should follow her feelings nya!" Purin exclaimed rolling around her big ball while doing a plates act. As usual, Purin crashed onto the floor of the room where guests were held.

"Purin!" Lettuce called out worriedly.

"Better make sure she doesn't run away from her cleanup duty." Mint said, putting down her teacup and rushed out toward the room along with Lettuce.

Ichigo sweat drop. She turned to find that Zakuro looking at her. "How did your _friend_…" Zakuro emphasized on the word "friend", "knows that her co-worker holds her in high regards?"

From the way that Zakuro was looking at Ichigo, she could felt beads of sweat from her forehead. _'Please somebody up there, please don't let my ears pop out or her super excellent senses give me away.'_ Ichigo prayed as she tried to calm herself down. "Umm…I think she read a love poem that was written from her co-worker that was about her. I think." _'So far so good, no ears or tail pop out. Now…only waiting for her reply.'_

"I think your friend should go for it." Zakuro said, checking her hair.

"Huh?" Confused, Ichigo pondered about that. _'What does she meant by that?'_

"Your friend should go for the co-worker. If the boss and her are such good friends, then surely the boss will understand. Eventually the boss is going to find out that the co-worker likes your friend. So if she's truly her friend, she would want them to be together, right?" Zakuro said, though while she spoke, her eyes never left Ichigo. Standing up, Zakuro said to Ichigo. "I better go check on them, who knows what havoc and chaos they might have created." She paused for a moment and said without turning. "If I were you Ichigo, I'll better start now instead of later." With that said, she walked away from the confused Ichigo and into the commotion created by Purin's act.

Putting her face on the table, Ichigo moaned to herself. "Why am I getting this feeling that she figured it out? Why? Why oh why?" She moaned again.

"Figured about what?"

Feeling the hot breath on her side of her face, Ichigo was startled that her ears and tail popped out. "Eek!"

Ryou smirked. "Never thought I see a day that your ears and tail popped out because of a shock."

"Shut up Shirogane! It's your fault that you made these appeared!" Ichigo said, pointing out her cat ears.

Reaching out toward her ears, Ryou started to scratch them. "Calm down strawberry kitty."

Like any other members of the cat family, Ichigo started to purr at the feeling that was creeping upon her. _'This feels nice…'_ she though idly. _'I wish he wouldn't stop…HEY! How dare he! That jerk!'_

Ichigo yanked Ryou's hand away from her ears and covered them. "Stop that!"

"Why? Enjoying the pleasure?" Ryou smirked.

"Uhhhh….." Ichigo started to say, but feeling some heat rising to her face, she quickly turned away from him and told him. "It's none of your business! If you excuse me, I have work to do." Not bothering to see Ryou's expression on her work comment, she quickly ran toward where the other girls were held.

Ryou's grinned grew wider. He couldn't help but chuckled quietly to himself. _'Ahh, she's so easily predictable. 'One of the things that I like most about her.'_ Shaking his head, he went up to his room to continue the search for the missing poem.

"What am I going to do?" Ichigo said, moaning about her dilemma. Recalling the even that just took place a moment ago, Ichigo said to herself. _'I don't think I could ever look Shirogane in the eye anymore now that I know what he thinks of me. My ears will pop out. Though, I guess I better take Zakuro's advice. The sooner, the better. Now what should I do?_

"Ichigo! Attend table four!" Lettuce yelled at her as she rushed through the kitchens to get the order for this customers.

'_Work now, think later.'_ "Alright!" Rushing over to the waiting table, Ichigo greeted them.

It was closing time. Ichigo and the other girls politely kicked the last customer out of the café, all were eager to go home and take a nice long bubble bath. One by one, the girls started to leave. Only Ichigo and Zakuro were the last ones standing, with an exception of the two guys who were living in the café.

Putting her head on top of the mop, Ichigo sighed. "Back to my original question. What am I going to do?"

"You could reply to his poem." Zakuro said quietly, putting on some moisturizing lotion on her face and hands.

"Huh?"

Zakuro looked at Ichigo.

"What?"

"I said you should write a reply to the poem." Zakuro said. "And I thought cats are suppose to have a great sense of hearing, then again I could be wrong."

Ichigo gulped. _'On no!'_ Her ears decided to show themselves to the world. Covering them for the second time, she said to Zakuro. "What makes you think that **_I_** should write a reply to the poem?"

Zakuro raised an eyebrow. "I thought you knew already. Considering that it was you who told us your little problem."

"How…how did you know…" Ichigo said, shocked and surprised. _'Ok, so I guess she sensed my nervous and fear that I was giving out when I told the girls the story._'

Zakuro gave a small smile. "My DNA matches with those of a grey wolf's DNA."

Falling down to the floor, Ichigo said to herself. "I knew that…" Quickly getting up, she asked to Zakuro. "I still don't get you when you meant by replying to the poem. How would I reply?"

Zakuro shrugged. "I don't know. A love letter perhaps? Though if you're planning to do that, then I suggest you leave it anonmyous. But leave a clue about yourself so that he might figure it out."

"I'll think about it. Thanks Zakuro." Ichigo said, smiling at the tall purple haired model.

"No problem." Zakuro said. Looking out the window, she saw a black car. "My ride's here. See you tomorrow then."

Waving like a little kid, Ichigo called out. "Bye Zakuro!"

"Ichigo? Why are you still here? Did you need a ride home?" Keiichiro's voice entered the hall.

Ichigo shook her head. "Keiichiro…can I ask you a favor?"

"Depends on what it is." Keiichiro smiled.

Ichigo shuffled her foot from one end to another. "I was wondering if you could deliver something to Shirogane."

"Does this has to do with the poem?"

Ichigo's head snapped up. "How did you know?"

Keiichiro chuckled. "One. You shown it to me. Two. Ryou was looking or probably is still looking for it today."

"He…he is?" Ichigo asked.

Keiichiro nodded.

"I better do something then! I mean with the size of his brain, he's bound to figure out. I can't let that happen." Ichigo said confidently.

"Well if you have something planning for Ryou that requires delivery, I'll be more than happy to assist you."

"Thank you Keiichiro! You're the best!" For a moment, Ichigo thought to herself that she could have just kissed Keiichiro for his help. Though that would make it seemed awkward for the both of them, Ichigo decided to go for a more friendly environmental way; a hug.

Keiichiro returned the hug; yet, there was something that caused him to look straight ahead. "No problem. Just give it to me early in the morning or late in the evening so I could put it in his room." He whispered to her ear. Letting go, he said to Ichigo, who was confused at the level of his tone, "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

"Ok." Ichigo said. Keiichiro left her alone in the hallway. As she was waiting for her ride home, she started to consider several ways where she should write her letter.

"Yo. What was that all about?"

Startled, Ichigo turned around. Tail and ears popped out. "Shirogane! Why are you still here?"

Eyes narrowed. "I could say the same thing. Unless…you had some unfinished business with Keiichiro." Ryou said, trying to hide the green eye monster that was starting to creep out of him.

Feeling the chill that ran through each and every part of her body, Ichigo froze up. _'Oh crap, I hope that he hasn't overheard the conversation I had with Keiichiro.'_ Gulping, she stuttered. "What…what makes you think that I…I had some unfinished business with…with…Keiichiro?"

Stepping closer to Ichigo, Ryou could feel himself closing on to her. Putting both arms at the side of her head, he said to her. "Then what's with the hug for?"

Getting all upset about it, Ichigo looked at him straight in the eye. Brown met blue. "Why would you care if I hugged Keiichiro or not? My business is not your business!" Looking out toward the window, she noticed a car parked outside of the café. "If you excuse me, my ride is here." Doing a Mint's look, she turned away from Ryou and walked out the door.

Hitting his forehead against the wall, Ryou thought to himself. _'Why…why did I get jealous over a hug? Hell, why did I get jealous over Keiichiro! Does…she likes him?'_

"Is there anything wrong Ryou?" Keiichiro worriedly asked. Concern for his friend was evident in his face.

"If you have a cure for a broken heart. Put it in my room." Ryou said, heading toward his room. Bangs were covering his face as he fought hard to keep them in. _'I guess she really does like Keiichiro. Not that I blame her. He is nice and good looking. Probably the guy that every girl would want. Who would want me?'_

While all of this occurred in Ryou's mind. Keiichiro prayed to himself. _'Ichigo, you better have that letter done early in the morning, because I'm sensing that Ryou is losing hope in himself.'_

----------------

Laying on her bed in her pajamas. Ichigo frowned. _'What was that all about? Why did he has to be such a jerk over a hug? For a moment, I thought he was acting like a jealous boyfriend or whatever.' _Silence greeted her after this comment. Realizing her last comment, Ichigo threw herself on the pillow. "That must be why!" She yelled.

"Ichigo, honey. Why aren't you sleeping?" Her mother's voice entered her room.

"I am mom!" Ichigo yelled back.

Ichigo smiled to herself. Then she grabbed a stationary and a pen. She pondered about whether to write his first name or his last name. Finally coming to a conclusion, she decided to write his first name. _'So that he wouldn't guess it was me on the first letter.' _"Now how would I write a love letter?"

Two hours passed. "I…I finally did it." Ichigo mumbled, exhausted from writing. "Time for a nap…" she said as sleep overcome her mind and body.

* * *

**_Sakura Moon_**

**_Whew. Finally done with this chapter. Hopefully it's good. Thanks for all your reviews..._**


	4. Chapter 4

_**An Unknown Love Letter**_

Chapter 4

The next morning, Ichigo woke up only to find her love letter that she was planning to send in to Keiichiro. _'What time is it?'_ She mumbled, half-asleep and half-awake; her eyes slowly adjusting to the brightness of her room. _'Out of all the days to be late, please don't let the clock tells me that I am late.'_ Grabbing the clock that was next to her, she could barely make out the digits on the said clock.

The birds were singing their bright cheerful song. Cats were digging into the trash for some breakfast and the two married couples were seen eating their breakfast. Suddenly, a voice distrubed this peaceful routine.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE OUT OF ALL THE DAYS! I'M LATE!"

Everything stopped. The birds stopped singing. The cats stopped digging and the married couples stopped and looked up to see where the distrubance had come from. A moment later, a cloud of dust filled their vision. They could see nothing save for the patch of red hair flying by. Everyone shrugged and continued on with their business. Meanwhile, Ichigo rushed toward the Mew Mew Café.

-----------------------------------

"Ryou? Is there anything you would like for breakfast?" Keiichiro said as he popped his head into a plain room.

The guy, Ryou, just mumbled in his bed. Turning over, he called out weakly as if there was nothing to live for…as if he just lost his will to continue on living. "Nothing. Just leave me in peace Keiichiro."

Keiichiro frowned at the sight of his close friend. _'Ichigo, please hurry. I don't know how long Ryou will keep acting this way.'_ "Very well then. There's something in the kitchen if you're hungry later on. I'll be out the whole day because I have some business to attend."

_'I wonder if this is how Kish felt every time?'_ Ryou thought as he recalled that scene that he stumbled upon last night.

_"Thank you Keiichiro! You're the best!" For a moment, Ichigo thought to herself that she could have just kissed Keiichiro for his help. Though that would make it seemed awkward for the both of them, Ichigo decided to go for a more friendly environmental way; a hug._

_Keiichiro returned the hug; yet, there was something that caused him to look straight ahead. He whispered to her ear. Letting go, he said to Ichigo, who was confused at the level of his tone, "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."_

_'I wonder what she meant by him being the best? What could caused her to hug him? If I didn't say so myself, she looked as if she could kissed Keiichiro.'_ Ryou said, that feeling in the pit of his stomache was making its way through his throat. Clearing his throat, he said to himself outloud. "I kissed her plenty of times before. Though, that was because she either turned into her cat form or when I need her to do something." Ryou sighed. "Why do I even bother thinking about it? Apparantly God or who ever controls my life decided to put me through hell by taking everything and everyone that I love." Looking at the picture on his bedstand, he tried to control the tears that started to ebb its way out off his eye sockets. "Mom…Dad…" He clutched the photo. "There's no need to wonder about the past. What's done is done." He banged his fist on the wall. "Mom…Dad…I wish you two were still here, to advise me on what should I do. Damn it." He punched the wall. "They never teach these kind of stuff in college."

While Ryou was having his self-pity moment, Ichigo tip-toed in the café. She headed toward the kitchen, clutching her prize weaponary. "Keiichiro?" She whispered, peering into the kitchen looking for the tall chesnut haired man.

"Yes?"

Blood was pumping its way upward in her body. The familier sensation tingled all over her body. Ichigo felt that she does not need a mirror to see herself; she could already imagined the two ears and a tail popped out of her body. Covering them, she snapped at Keiichiro. "No need to scare the heck out of me."

"Sorry about that." Keiichiro said before he became grim looking. "Do you have it?"

"Huh?" Ichigo said, not comprehending the full meaning until moments later. Her eyes grew wide and she gave a nod. "Yup, I have it with me somewhere. Let me look for it." She said, before scrambling through her package looking for the letter that she had written. After finding it, she sprayed it with an orange and mango scent. Keiichiro raised an eyebrow at this. Ichigo noticed and said to him. "So that he won't think it's me."

Keiichiro only raised an eyebrow further. Ichigo sighed and said to him, hoping that he would understand her problem. "Don't you think it's strange how suddenly I became fond of Shirogane when I supposedly have a thing for Masaya? Besides, Shirogane would think that all of this is a joke. He wouldn't take it seriously as I want him to be."

_'For once, she's actually making sense.' _Keiichiro nodded. "Good point. I'll put this along with his bills."

Ichigo grinned. "Thank you so much Keiichiro!" A moment later, her grin turned into a frown. "Bills?"

"Well someone has to pay for the electricity and water." Looking at the clock, Keiichiro said to Ichigo. "Do you want a ride to school?"

"Huh?" Ichigo said, confused as to what Keiichiro meant until she looked at the clock, whose arrows pointed five minutes before eight. "WHAT! I'm going to be late!" Grabbing Keiichiro's hand, she pleaded with him. "Can you please drive me to school? This will be the last time. Please?"

Keiichiro looked at her. He grabbed his keys then went eye-leveled to Ichigo. "Ichigo, I'll be happy to help you or any of the girls with your problems. No matter how ridiculous it may seemed."

"Keiichiro…" Ichigo started to say, but couldn't find the words to describe what she the emotion that started to bubble up.

"Don't worry about it." Keiichiro said to her, reassuring her of no hard feelings. Grabbing his coat, Keiichiro asked her. "Are you coming or not?"

"Coming!" Ichigo replied as she too, grabbed her stuff and followed Keiichiro into his car.

_'Get a hold of yourself. If you can overcome Dad's project by completing this. Then you can overcome this too!' _Ryou said to himself as he watched the pair drove off into the street. He had decided to come due to the noises his stomache was causing. _'Hmm…I wonder if I checked whether the chimeras are officially gone. I think I need to scan the computer for that.'_ Ryou said, needing to find a way to push away these feelings. These feelings that he tried so much to avoid. These feelings that he doesn't want to feel any pain, but…they're rising against him. He sighed, he skimmed through the surrounding, hoping to find something that would at least distract his mind from thinking of her.

Ryou noticed a wad of bills laying on the surface. He picked them up and glanced through them. _'Water, electricity, a tea subscription…TEA SUBSCRIPTION?' _Ryou frowned at that thought. An answer appeared to him. _'Better give that to Keiichiro.' _Ryou's nose caught an unfamiliar scent.

Curious as his cat form, Ryou investigated further in the mysterious letter. One word was written in that letter. The word that could only change how he perceived how life truly is. That one word on that envelope was his name. _'I hope this is not some prank that a certain strawberry would pulled because if so, she's going to find herself with a small paycheck next week and possibly for the next few months!'_ Ryou thought as he frowned toward the typicalness of Ichigo's behavior. It was known for a fact how Ichigo felt toward his _attitude_ of her. Ryou sighed. "I might as well get over this. The sooner I do so the early I can recover from this."

As Ryou slowly peeled the covering that hid the letter from its true purpose. Anxiety and curiousity rose as each second passed by; waiting to know what the contents of the letter. He skimmed the letter; ripping the safety of the letter. Eyes widen, Ryou was stunned. Although he was not shocked for he had receieved several love letters in the past, something in that letter that he held stunned him. "Pfft. This is like all the other letters that I receieved in the past. What makes this one so different?" Ryou proceeded to throw the letter into the nearest trash, but his hand faltered. Crumpled, but not discarded, Ryou tucked the letter into his pockets and headed upstairs; where his peace laid, all thoughts of feeding his stomache laid forgotten.

Days passed. Each day, Ryou receieved a new letter and with that letter contained a clue about this mysterious admirer. The second day, Ryou considered that this person might be Ichigo. When he had confronted Ichigo whether this letter was written by her, all he received were laughs and the typical "Why would I do that?" comment from her. However, he could not help but noticed the pause as she said this, but Ryou decided to shrug it off. _'Ichigo tends to do that sometimes.'_ He said to himself. But his heart was sadden at the realization. He had hoped that maybe there is some hope for him. A girl like her to like a guy like him. Closing his eyes, Ryou headed toward the workplace. "Girls. Do what you normally do but Ichigo, head out to the store to buy some vegetables for tomorrow. We're having that vegetable juice sale and I don't want _it_ to happen like last time. If you need anything, talk to Keiichiro. For now, don't bother me."

The girls watched their boss walked up the stairs. When he was gone from their sight, whispers and chatters started to form.

"Is it me or has Ryou been moody lately?" Mint said as she took a sip of the cafe's daily special.

"Yeah yeah. He's been like that every since that day he got a letter!" Jumping up and down, Pudding rolled around the group on her famous ball.

Ichigo's head snapped. "Letter? What letter?" _'I hope she doesn't know about it...'_

"Nya. Don't you know he's been receiving letters ever since I started working here? I bet it's one of those looovvveee letters." Pudding gleefully said.

Hearing that Ichigo tripped. The other girls ran over to her.

"Was it something I said?" Pudding pointed at herself while asking the other girls.

Zakuro kept her mouth shut as she helped Ichigo get back on her feet.

"I'm going to the kitchen. Someone needs to help Keiichiro with the dishes!" Ichigo waved off to the girls as she scurried forward.

"What's wrong with her?" Mint's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Hey!"

"Where's the waitress?"

"I'm ready to order!"

"Where's the menu!"

Customers roared as they impaitently waited for their future meals. Hearing that, the girls went to their daily places and worked.

Deep inside the hidden lair of the kitchens, Ichigo held her raging emotions. _'Does that mean…he's affected by what I wrote?' _The upper corners of her mouth started to curve up. _'If that so…execute the next plan! Be careful of what you wish for…Ryou Shirogane.'_

Within his room, Ryou sneezed.

* * *

**_Sakura M.:_**

**_Sorry for the long wait and for the unbeta chapter. But here it is._**

**_School's coming and so are the unfinish summer homework. So I don't know when I'll have chapter 5 done. Until then._**


	5. Finale

**"An Unknown Love Letter "**

Chapter 5 

A gentle breeze flow through the air. A single leaf rides on it as if it was a surfer catching the waves.

_Wear something nice tomorrow._

That was it. That was all the words that the message carried. Ryou glanced at it. The same four words repeated inside his head. For the past few days, Ryou has been thinking about that unknown letter that was sent to him. At first, he thought it was something that one of Ichigo's friends did. But then he realized that it couldn't be. His gut instinct told him that it wasn't true.

"You're still thinking about that note aren't you Ryou?" Keiichiro's voice entered the bare room that Ryou occupied.

"What if it was a joke?" Ryou questioned, that question haunted his mind. What if indeed it was a joke? He couldn't bear to have his heart destroy again, not since the death of his parents.

Rolling his eyes Keiichiro did something that he had never done before. A thud was heard across the room, Ryou looked at him. Shocked and surprise were evident on his face. "Get a grip will you? You just have to put more faith in yourself. Now go on and meet that mystery girl!"

"Hmph, the note didn't specify what time. Besides, how do you know that it's a girl in the first place?" Ryou asked, curious to see how did Keiichiro know what time to meet this person.

"Well I think Lettuce is planning to take you out somewhere so you might as well wear that tuxedo of yours. Who knows how long she's going to take you and it wouldn't seem right to make that mystery lover of yours wait right?" He smirked. Keiichiro knows what was going on, but had decided to torture Ryou. "In fact, I can hear her coming."

No sooner than those words left Keiichiro's mouth did a knock entered the room. "Ryou-san? May I enter?" Lettuce's voice was heard and Ryou was gaping at Keiichiro's proven hypothesis.

"Come in." Ryou's voice rang loud and clear as Lettuce slowly opens the door. There was a moment of silence between the two. To be truthful, Ryou did not know what happen afterwards because soon, he found his world to be in darkness.

It was at a cliff did Ryou found himself there, blindfolded and tied. After speaking with Lettuce did his world went black. Once he regains consciousness, he was shocked at Lettuce, the side she had never shown before.

When the blindfold was taken away from him did Ryou marvel at the sight before him. The sun was setting as it allowed itself to be swallowed by the sea. From that position, the rays that were given off contrasts with the sky, leaving streaks of mixed purple, pink, orange, and red.

"This is nice really. But what does this have to do with something that you wanted to tell me?" Ryou turned around, away from the breathtakingly scenery and faced a pair of sea colored eyes. Eyes that were staring at him. "And most importantly, why was I gagged, knocked out and tied up?"

Blood was rushing to her face. She could feel it. Lettuce looked down, fear and ashamed were all over her. It was all too sudden. Right after they began talking in his room, she knocked him out with Keiichiro's help. She knew what was happening. She wasn't known for being observant for nothing. "Ryou…I…"

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "I what?" A concern look plasters itself on his feature. "Is something bothering you Lettuce?"

Unable to hold it off any longer, she burst. "Ryou! I had liked you for a long time now!" Eyes widen in shocked, Lettuce covered her mouth; surprised at her outburst.

Hearing this, Ryou was not surprised at all. Though he must admit that hearing this from Lettuce herself was surprising. Continuing on, Lettuce turned to look at the sky. Its vibrant and lovely colors of life are slowly changing into darkness. He placed a hand on her shoulder; comforting her. "Lettuce…I…"

"Don't say anything Ryou. I already know who has your heart." Quietly said, Lettuce glanced at Ryou, who wore a shocked expression. 'Am I that obvious?'

Looking right at Lettuce, Ryou told her something that comes deep within his heart. "I hope someday, you'll find someone who will return your feelings. And I hope that someday comes to you soon."

Lettuce grinned. She took out an envelope from her pocket and handed it to Ryou, who took it cautiously. "What's this?"

"It's to show you where to go for someone who is waiting for you right now as we speak." Lettuce's eyes glinted with a mysterious shine that surrounds it. "If you excuse me, I have to go. Good luck Ryou."

Ryou waved, though speechless at the envelope in front of him. His eyes scanning the message before him. He pocketed the note and left the area. Unknown to him, the supposed person who was supposed to have left was still in the area. Another person showed up beside her.

"How did it go Lettuce?"

Lettuce turned around and glanced at him with sorrowful eyes. "It went fine. He received the message." Her eyes downcast and it was evident that there was sadness in her voice.

Keiichiro rubbed her shoulders. "You should be proud that you are moving on. It may by slow, but it's a progress than before. Don't worry, you'll find someone someday."

"Just like Ryou."

Confused, a single word left Keiichiro's mouth. "What?"

Lettuce quickly looked at Keiichiro, she could see the confusion that lies within his eyes. "Oh, what I meant was that Ryou said the same thing to me." After pausing for a while. She added on. "I'm also happy that Ryou finds someone who returns his feelings. I…all the time that I spent with him and known him, I never see him react that way toward Ichigo."

"Same here. I never see him acted that way toward anyone in particular." Keiichiro added his own two cents after giving a considerable amount of thought.

A blanket of silence curtained those two. Unable to take the silence any longer, Keiichiro voiced out. "Was this very hard for you?"

Lettuce bit her lip. After a couple of seconds, she answered Keiichiro's question. "Yes. Yes it was. But…I have to move on. Ichigo may not see it, but whenever she's around, his eyes…there's life inside of them. Without her, his eyes are full of emotionless life. But once she appears, life sparks in those eyes of his. That's when I knew, that he could never feel the same way as I feel for him. Now all I want is for their happiness. Both of them have been very good to me and now I hope they're good for each other."

"Well thought Lettuce. Well thought." Keiichiro put an arm around her. Lettuce looked up in surprised. "Come on, let's head to the café." Lettuce smiled and allowed him to lead her.

-----

Ryou roamed far and wide for the place. He came to the last place in the area. There, he could see the beauty of it. It was nighttime by the time Ryou arrived at the place.

With the moonlight shining down, a nice calm pond glittered due to the moonlight and as time passed, more fireflies scattered around the pond; giving an illusion of tiny lights floating on top of the sparkling water. A few lily pads were found lying on top of the pond and there were vines of rare flowers hanging from tree to tree as the forest surrounds the pond.

Very few people knew about the pond and Ryou wondered who knew about it. A rustle appeared behind him. He froze.

Ichigo was nervous. In fact, she hadn't wanted to come in the first place. But Zaruko insisted saying how pointless it would be to have the admirer ditched at the last moment when the love of her life waits for her arrival. Nonetheless, Ichigo was afraid. Afraid of the laughter and mockery that usually comes from Ryou. 'Come on. If you could face mutated animals and monsters than you can face this.' She took a step forward; accidentally stepping on a branch. Ryou turned around. Teal met chocolate. "Ichigo?"

------

Ryou turned around once he heard a crack. He saw Ichigo standing there looking her best. "Ichigo?" He could not believed his eyes. He had not seen Ichigo like that since that one time at the ball that the Café was holding.

Ichigo grinned nervously. "Hey."

"I...what…why are you here?" Ryou questioned. Part of him hoped this was true and the other party hoped it was not a prank. He frowned. "This better not be a prank Ichigo. I am not up for your childish games."

Ichigo scowled. 'Some romantic date this is going to be.' "For once, just shut up Ryou."

Ryou pursed his lips. 'Who does she think she is? Ms. Queen of Diva?' But for once, he was going to listen to her and do what she said.

Ichigo was surprised when he did what she told him to do. 'Ok, here's your chance.' "Ryou…I know you have feelings for me. And…here's my answer."

'What! How did she know?' Ryou was shocked that Ichigo knew. He always had an impression that she was kind of dense about this kind of stuff.

Looking at his expression, Ichigo gave him the poem that she had found; thinking this might solved his unspoken question of how she knew.

Ryou grabbed the poem. From the moment it was shown to him, he knew already that it was the poem he had wrote. Anger coursed through him, not thinking about the consequences he allowed himself to act how he usually acted toward Ichigo. "What? I can't believe you entered my room like that! I also can't believe that you stole something that belong to me!" Ryou yelled at her.

Tears started to form. Wiping them off, Ichigo said to him. "I'm sorry. I understand if you don't like me anymore." Sniffling, Ichigo turned around and ran away from Ryou.

Rapidly realizing what just happen, Ryou felt that he wanted to punch himself for his stupidity. 'Some prodigy you are.' "What have I done?" He murmured to himself. Looking in front of him, he could see Ichigo running further and further away from him. Urging his feet to move forward, he started to chase after her.

Ichigo tore everything that was in her path. She could not believe how she made a fool of herself. Everything that she had worked so hard for; vanished in mere moments ever since Ichigo had encountered the poem. 'Why why did it went downhill?' Not watching where she was going, Ichigo did the classic moment. She tripped over a branch that was sticking out of the ground. In slow motion, she could feel her body plunging forward. Ichigo closed her eyes and placed her arms in front of her face, waiting for the impact. After a minute or two, Ichigo opened her eyes. There in front of her, was the ground itself. She noticed that she was mere centimeters away from hitting the ground. She did not bother to look behind her. Like in all novels, the dashing prince suddenly saved the falling heroine. She knew in her heart who saved her. But the fear that resides within her took control. A couple of tears escaped from her. "What do you want now Shirogane? Make a mockery of me?"

Hearing those words, Ryou could not helped but frowned upon them. He pulled her up and held her close. "No, it isn't what I want."

"Then what is it that you want? Seeing me fall? Well sorry but you prevented that from happening so you lost your chance."

Ryou wiped a tear away from Ichigo's face. "What I want is you."

Hearing those words, Ichigo glomped Ryou. She chuckled. "It only took a letter to make all of this happen."

"An unknown letter." Ryou added as he held to her close. Under the starry moonlight, two people who are stubborn as a bull realized to set their stubbornness and pride away and wrote their feelings on a piece of paper.

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**_Sakura Moon:_**

**_Well I'm finally done! Sorry it has taken me awhile and somehow I think the ending could be better. But since I timed myself to finish it before next year, here it is. Thanks to everyone who read this story and believed in this pairing! Until next time!_**


	6. author's note

Author's Note:

Well, apparently not alot of people are interested in reading a revamp version of **An Unknown Love Letter**. To those that are interested, thank you. For that I will go through the chapters and edit some stuff. Right now I am currently working on the first chapter. However, I'm still debating whether I should put this to a new story and keep the original. Or...post the edited version somewhere else.

Thanks for reading this!

Sakura Moon

--edited 7/28/08: The remix version of An Unknown Love Letter is up. Please read and review.


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